Defense leads Lawrence in semifinal win

With Lawrence missing two standout players on defense, and both teams capable of scoring a ton of points, few expected the Conference III semifinal matchup between No. 2 Lawrence and No. 3 Lynbrook to come down to defense. But that’s exactly what happened.

Juniors John Perrone, Kenny Perez, Ludwing Velasquez, and Matt Leone, and freshman nose guard Melik Mayruk led a Golden Tornadoes’ defensive unit that held Lynbrook to one score as Lawrence advanced to the title game with a 29-6 victory at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University last Saturday. Ryan Fredericks scored twice and brothers’ Tyler and Jordan each scored once to lead the offense.

Lawrence head coach Joe Martillotti is no longer surprised by his defense. “We’ve made a lot of changes on defense throughout the season, so it’s taken time to find ourselves,” Martillotti said. “We had to figure out who were. We found our defensive identity, today.”

The confidence Martillotti has in the Lawrence defense was exhibited prior to the opening kickoff, when the Golden Tornadoes won the coin toss, but elected to kickoff to the Owls. The strategy paid off as the Golden Tornadoes forced Lynbrook, which finished at 6-4, to go three-and-out on its first two possessions.   

Lynbrook head coach Steve LoCicero was impressed with Lawrence’s defense. “They got better on defense as the year went along,” LoCicero said. “We threw in a few new looks, but their defense came up big. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We lost to a very good football team. I’m very proud of my team. They’ll always be very special to me.”

Lawrence (9-1) found the end zone on its second possession when Ryan Fredericks got an outstanding block from Eddie Robinson and sprinted around left end to put the Golden Tornadoes on the board. Mike Fragner’s kick made it 7-0.

The Owls, who were looking to avenge a tough regular season loss, answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Rocco Scibelli, which was set up by Luke Spitzer’s 31-yard pass to Johnny Emmerich. Robinson, who was terrific on both sides of the ball, blocked the extra point attempt.

The Lynbrook defense came up big to keep the Golden Tornadoes out of the end zone on their next drive, but a 16-play, 80-yard drive, capped off by a one-yard plunge by Tyler Fredericks on the last play of the first half gave Lawrence a 14-6 lead. The highlight of the drive was an 11-yard run by Robinson on a fake punt from the Owls’ 41 on 4th and 7.